GMO effect on climate change largely ignored

When the idea was accepted, it was stated that 75 billion tonnes of fertile soil are lost each year globally. In this light, the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency estimate that agriculture in Thailand contributes only 8 per cent to climate change seems far too low. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research says agriculture produces one-third of all the emissions that cause climate change. The gradual transformation of agriculture into a fossil-fuel-intensive industry and the migration of people to cities and industrial jobs are among the major causes of climate change. 

GMOs produced in corporate labs are the ultimate symptoms of this trend. Healthful landscapes and agricultural produce are rapidly degrading into environmental deserts and toxic food, causing not only climate change but also an enormous increase in non-communicable diseases, all at the expense of the Thai public-health service. We might thus expect the National Legislative Assembly to reject the proposed Biosafety Protection Act that was adopted “without discussion” by the Cabinet. The legislation would put the agriculture sector on an irreversible path towards industrialisation, with tragic impacts on future generations. 

In China a much-needed “rural regeneration” movement has taken off. We need to support innovative organic agriculture based on cultural resilience. The Thai government’s admirable reforestation targets, to be effective, should be integrated into a master plan for revitalising the countryside. The government will not lose face by showing that it listens to arguments from all sides and puts citizens first. The “Oslo Principles” announced recently by a group of activist-judges and high-level legal experts underpin the rights of civil society to hold governments and corporations responsible for the damages of climate change.

Hans van Willenswaard